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Citation
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Judgment date
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| July 2008 |
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14 July 2008 |
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Reported
Whether visual identification by a single eyewitness, without an identification parade or corroboration, sufficed to convict the appellants.
Criminal law – Visual identification — Need to eliminate possibilities of mistaken identity; identification parades; single-witness identification and s.143 Evidence Act; admission and evidential value of cautioned statements; sufficiency of evidence to connect accused to robbery with violence.
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14 July 2008 |
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Appeal allowed: conflicting witness accounts and lack of medical evidence made rape conviction unsafe.
Criminal law – Rape – Sufficiency of evidence – Contradictory testimony of complainant and mother; absence of medical report (PF3) and uncalled witnesses – Conviction unsafe. Civil procedure – Appellate judgment – High Court’s omission to state whether appeal allowed or dismissed not fatal where no prejudice and remittal would disserve justice.
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14 July 2008 |
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Controverted confession, uncertain property identification and unsafe visual ID warranted quashing convictions.
* Evidence — Extra-judicial statements — Controverted confession — Trial within a trial required to test voluntariness; assessors should not be exposed before admissibility ruled. * Evidence — Recent possession — Owner identification must be certain; absence of special marks, contradictory claims and lack of reliable receipts defeat recent possession. * Evidence — Identification — Visual and voice identification at night under unfavourable conditions is unsafe. * Procedure — Expert report (Chief Government Chemist) must be properly tendered before being acted upon.
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14 July 2008 |
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Provocation defence failed where delay and repeated stabbing showed malice aforethought, upholding murder conviction.
Criminal law – Murder vs manslaughter – Defence of provocation under section 201 Penal Code; extra-judicial and caution statements – admissibility and weight; malice aforethought – inference from repeated stab wounds.
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14 July 2008 |
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Eyewitness identification at night and an admitted cautioned statement upheld a murder conviction and death sentence.
Criminal law – Identification evidence at night – Waziri Amani test; Confession – admissibility of cautioned statement under s.34B Evidence Act; Provocation and intoxication – not established; Murder conviction and mandatory death sentence upheld.
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14 July 2008 |
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Appellate court upheld murder conviction, finding eyewitness evidence credible and rejecting speculative medical argument without expert proof.
* Criminal law – Murder – Evaluation of eyewitness evidence – discrepancies explained by differing vantage points and timings – child witness and adult witnesses considered; * Criminal procedure – Defence evidence – afterthought defence and trial judge's rejection; * Evidence – medical expert opinion – absence of expert evidence and court not bound by non-expert opinion.
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14 July 2008 |
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Reported
Omission of certificate in caution statement was a minor irregularity; contemporaneous confession established murder, appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – Murder v. manslaughter – malice aforethought established by motive and conduct; Evidence – admissibility of caution statements – non-compliance with s.10(3) CPA not automatically fatal; Trial-within-trial – minor irregularity versus miscarriage of justice; Defence of provocation/self-defence assessed against contemporaneous admission.
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14 July 2008 |
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A 15-year manslaughter sentence was reduced to 5 years for failure to consider provocation and mitigation.
Criminal law — Manslaughter — Sentencing — Manifestly excessive sentence — Failure to consider mitigating circumstances and provocation — Appellate reduction of sentence — Authorities: Yohana Balicheko; Juma Buruhani Mapunda; Omari Athuman Mkumbila.
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14 July 2008 |
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Subordinate courts may grant bail during committal proceedings for bailable offences triable by the High Court.
Criminal procedure — committal proceedings and bail — whether subordinate courts may admit accused to bail for offences triable by the High Court — interpretation of ss.148(1),148(5)(a),245,246,248 and 178 CPA — High Court cognizance and supervisory powers (s.148(3)).
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14 July 2008 |
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Voluntary confessions corroborated by post‑mortem and credible witness evidence uphold a murder conviction and death sentence.
Criminal law – confession – admissibility and corroboration of cautioned and extra‑judicial statements; post‑mortem evidence corroborating confession (genital organs removed); evidence of weapon recovery and chain of custody; malice aforethought versus provocation (witchcraft allegations).
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14 July 2008 |
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Subordinate courts may grant bail during committal proceedings for bailable offences triable by the High Court, except statutory exclusions.
Criminal procedure – Bail – Whether subordinate courts may admit accused to bail during committal/preliminary inquiry for offences triable by the High Court; construction of ss.148, 244, 245, 246, 248 and 178 Criminal Procedure Act; effect of s.148(5)(a) exclusions; High Court supervisory versus cognizance jurisdiction.
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14 July 2008 |
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Reported
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14 July 2008 |
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Court upheld conviction: caution statement admissible, found voluntary, repudiation was corroborated, appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — caution statements and section 57 CPA — admissibility; voluntariness of confessions and repudiation — trial‑within‑a‑trial; corroboration of retracted confessions; assessors — misdirection on standard of proof in circumstantial cases.
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14 July 2008 |
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Reported
Whether a retracted cautioned confession, lawfully admitted and corroborated, can sustain a murder conviction.
* Criminal procedure – admissibility of cautioned/confessional statements – compliance with sections 57 and 58 Criminal Procedure Act; voluntariness and effects of prior torture/delay. * Repudiated/retracted confession – need for corroboration or court satisfaction of truthfulness. * Circumstantial evidence – standard of proof; misdirection to assessors and harmless error doctrine.
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14 July 2008 |
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Counsel negligence or ignorance does not justify extending time to apply for revision; appeal, not revision, was the proper remedy.
Practice and procedure – extension of time under Rule 8 Court of Appeal Rules – applicants must show sufficient reasons – negligence, inadvertence or ignorance of counsel not sufficient – revision is not an alternative to appeal – timely notice of appeal required.
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9 July 2008 |
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Counsel’s inadvertence and delayed transcripts do not justify extension of time to seek leave to appeal.
Court of Appeal — extension of time — sufficiency of reasons — inaction or inadvertence of counsel not sufficient — rule 43(b) Court Rules 1979 — competence after striking out — abuse of process.
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8 July 2008 |
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Extension of time granted to file notice of appeal due to earlier filing attempt and interests of justice.
Court of Appeal — Extension of time under Rule 8; notice of appeal filed out of time; alleged early filing and misplacement in court sub‑registry; sufficient reasons — diligence and interest of justice.
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8 July 2008 |
| May 2008 |
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Appellants' minor witness contradictions and retracted confessions did not defeat voluntary statements or murder convictions.
* Criminal law – murder – conviction based on eyewitnesses who found accused burying body and on cautioned/confessional statements.
* Evidence – discrepancies in witness statements – distinction between trivial (normal) and material discrepancies affecting credibility.
* Evidence – voluntariness of confessions – trial-within-a-trial; appellate deference to trial court credibility findings.
* Criminal procedure – recording of cautioned statements – no prohibition on recording on different days provided statutory safeguards observed (Criminal Procedure Act ss.57–58).
* Confessions – retracted/repudiated confession may support conviction without corroboration if the court is fully satisfied of its truth.
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30 May 2008 |
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Minor witness discrepancies did not undermine identification; voluntary retracted confessions sufficed to uphold convictions.
* Criminal evidence – identification – inconsistencies in witness accounts – distinguishing trifling/normal discrepancies from material contradictions affecting credibility.
* Criminal procedure – cautioned statements – voluntariness – trial‑within‑a‑trial and admissibility.
* Recording of statements – sections 57 and 58 CPA – no prohibition on separate‑day recordings shown.
* Confessions – retracted/repudiated confessions may ground conviction if trial court is fully satisfied of their truth; corroboration desirable but not mandatory.
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30 May 2008 |
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Failure to object at trial bars appellate attack on confessions; corroborated retracted confessions can sustain conviction.
* Criminal procedure – admissibility of cautioned and extra‑judicial statements – failure to object at trial bars appellate challenge (s.169 CPA).
* Criminal procedure – interview time limits – sections 50(1) and 51(1) CPA – late objection on appeal ineffective.
* Evidence – voluntariness – allegations of torture must be established contemporaneously; belated retraction may be disbelieved.
* Confessions – retracted confessions may support conviction if, on full consideration, the confession cannot but be true; corroboration preferred but not mandatory.
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30 May 2008 |